Issue 34, 2024

Assessing inorganic nanoparticle toxicity through omics approaches

Abstract

In the last two decades, the development of nanotechnology has resulted in inorganic nanoparticles playing crucial roles in key industries, ranging from healthcare to energy technologies. For instance, gold and silver nanoparticles are widely used in rapid COVID-19 and flu tests, titania and zinc oxide nanoparticles are commonly found in cosmetic products, and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have been clinically exploited as contrast agents and anti-anemia medicines. As a result, human exposure to nanomaterials is continuously increasing, raising concerns about their potential adverse health effects. Historically, the study of nanoparticle toxicity has largely relied on macroscopic observations obtained in different in vitro and in vivo models, resulting in readouts such as median lethal dose, biodistribution profile, and/or histopathological assessment. In recent years, omics methodologies, including transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics, are increasingly used to characterize the biological interactions of nanomaterials, providing a better and broader understanding of their impact and mechanisms of toxicity. These approaches have been able to identify important genes and gene products that mediate toxicological effects, as well as endogenous functions and pathways dysregulated by nanoparticles. Omics methods improve our understanding of nanoparticle biology, and unravel mechanistic insights into nanomedicine-based therapies. This review aims to provide a deeper understanding and new perspectives of omics approaches to characterize the toxicity and biological interactions of inorganic nanoparticles, and improve the safety of nanoparticle applications.

Graphical abstract: Assessing inorganic nanoparticle toxicity through omics approaches

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Minireview
Submitted
04 iyn 2024
Accepted
10 avq 2024
First published
15 avq 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale, 2024,16, 15928-15945

Assessing inorganic nanoparticle toxicity through omics approaches

Y. Li, C. Vulpe, T. Lammers and R. M. Pallares, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 15928 DOI: 10.1039/D4NR02328E

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